Long, long ago, there was another time. A time of dreams and mysteries. A time of light and darkness. A time before a sun, a time where the moon and stars held rein over the indigo domain. A time of wild magic, where there were dream wells, singing forests, seas of stars. And a time of legends. Mythical creatures, most of which are extinct and forgotten.
One of these creatures was the Nightriae. They controlled the night, and were elements of the nighttime itself. They were like navy-blue kougras, but they sported wings much like those of faeries today. The wings were spangled with golden stars. They had a row of stars down their backs, and their paws and tailtip were a pale yellow that glowed like the moon. They were very magical, and they supported the magic of the world around them. They could fly, were telepathic and telekinetic, and could grant incredible blessings.
But then the sun was created. That is another story, and you will not find it here. Now this legend truly begins.
Two of these majestic creatures, Syriae and Nufaer, sat together in a glade as Syriae gave birth to a golden-eyed baby. Syriae looked at the east sky, which was now strangely orange. "Nufaer, it's coming. Our baby is going to die. We're all going to die..." she whimpered.
Nufaer tore his gaze from the sparkling-eyed baby. "I know..." he whispered. "But I cannot bear to see our race die." The stars were fading. He saw a last star in the north and used all of his magic to seal the baby inside of it. "Sleep well, my child." he said. "You will never see us again, but we shall dwell in your dreams. And may you awake when it is night once more..." These were his last words. He put his paws around Syriae as the lethal sun rose. Their life-giving element of night gone, the two fell to the ground, their hearts stopped. The forest echoed with cries as the star-dwellers felt their life ebb away. Then all was silent. The Nightriae were no more...
Soon enough it was night again, as the sun set but the Nightriae did not rise. They had all died. The nameless baby slumbered on in the star, the only place that was safe for her, never to wake.
Within a few days, all the magic was gone. The dream wells turned to water, the seas of stars dried up, and the singing forests fell silent. The Nightriae that supplied the magic were gone. Only one magic place still existed. It was the Dark Forest. The baby Nightriae's magic sustained it.
Ages past. The legendary creatures of the forgotten age died out, to be replaced by new races. The baby grew into an adult with piercing gold eyes that would never open. The Dark Forest grew with her, becoming a giant wood that stretched miles upon end. The sun never shone through the twisted branches, creating an eternal night. Just like her world...
If this was just a fairy tale, it would end here. But this is not just a fairy tale.
It is said that the legend, known only by the name of her race, has finally awoke and escaped the confinement of the North Star. She dwells in the Dark Forest, lost in a time no longer her own, in a world with only dreams of her parents to guide her. She walks the path between light and darkness, and she is to be cautioned with. She is anointed with the power of the memories of her race, and has the strength in magic to bring back the world she barely remembers, knew only for a few seconds...
I opened my eyes for the first time, and I saw the world.
The sky was filled with the sort of ghost light seen only before dawn. It was misty. The air crackled and hummed with magic, a comforting feeling. Two huge, beautiful faces stared down at me. They were dark blue; one had green eyes, the other violet. Their faces smiled, but their eyes were dark with worry. Above the faces fluttered two sets of starry wings, ruffled in the breeze. They spoke to each other, although I knew not what they said. And suddenly, all was darkness.
The world seemed to have no boundaries. I was trapped in a maelstrom of colors and shadows, strange beasts lurking around the corners of my mind. I was lost. I tried to wake from my prison, but I only fell deeper. I screamed for help, but nobody anwswered my pleas.
I was alone.
Finally, the storm abated.
I opened my eyes again. I was surrounded by light. Where was I? The world seemed to have more clarity than it had last time, like I suddenly understood more. I felt... older? It was hard to understand. I pushed against the light, and there was a flash of light, and again, all was darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, the sky was dark. I was in a snowy clearing. It was nighttime. Everything seemed smaller than they used to, like I had grown larger. Something seemed wrong. I noticed that the air was different. The last time I had seen the world, the air had hummed with magic, as if alive. Now it was... dead. As if all had gone silent...
The air seemed less pure. It was not as clean as I had remembered, and my first few breaths were chokes. Once I had gotten used to it, I looked at my surroundings. It was the same clearing in the glade, I realized, that I had been born in. Where were my parents? Perhaps they could explain the seeming loss of magic.
I took a few unsteady steps, my first steps, and stumbled on something. Something hard. My heart went cold. I tried to scream, but only succeeded in a silent rush of air, for my throat had seized up.
There were two skeletons. They had a vaguely kougra-like shape, but were more fragile and small. They had four wing bones each. They clutched each other in a tight embrace, the larger one's paws around the other's skeletal frame. They had died without a fight. Who were they? But as I looked at them, I saw them for what they once were. I saw the faces that had stared down at me, thousands of years ago, but it seemed only like seconds past...
The vision broke, and they were skeletons again. I stumbled back, tears running down my face. I was lost. Where was I? How much time had passed? My parents had died, my species was gone, and I was lost in a time thousands of years after the last of my race died. Why had they died? Why was I alone?
I came to a stream. I bent down to take a drink, the first I ever took. After I drank, I saw my reflection. It gazed at me like one of those dark blue faces that I had seen the first seconds of my life, but the eyes were golden. My wings drooped instead of fluttered, and I was thinner than my parents. I saw a feature I had not noticed in my parents, but after all, I had only seen their faces. My paws and tailtip glowed yellow, and when I waved my wings, they glittered like stars. What was I?
I looked up at the sky. It was almost light. For some reason, I was overcome with a sudden terror. I turned and fled into the snowy glades around me. The Dark Forest. I ran until the trees were thick enough to block the sun, and I was enveloped in darkness.
I was curious, and decided to explore. There was magic in the air again, but it felt different. Faint, strained. But it was magic nonetheless. It made me feel safer, as if I was less out of place. Why was it magic here, and nowhere else? I prowled around, curious, until I saw another creature.
It was a lot like me. It was also a kougra, and it was a bit larger than me. Its fur was magenta, and its paws, chest, and two dragonic wings were a light green. Her eyes were cyan, and she had wine-red stripes.
I shied away, but it had already seen me.
It cautiously walked over to me and looked at me quizzacally, unsure of what to say. Finally, it spoke. The voice was unmistakably female, and she had a regal air about her. "Who are you?"
The question puzzled me. "Errr... I have no idea." I replied.
The kougra looked more puzzled than I did. "But you're one of those night spirits. You know, starry wings, glowing paws, blue fur. And they died out years ago." she said.
I stepped back. "You have to be mistaken..." I stammered. "I... I..." I was lost for words.
I'm Laluzi." the kougra said. "You have to be one. There's no other pets that look remotely like them, and it explains why the Dark Forest is the only place with magic left, even when the magic suppliers were gone."
I raised an eyebrow. "Magic suppliers?
Yeah," Laluzi said. "The Nightriae. They lived before the sun, and when it was created, it killed them all. They were the reason the magic existed; each Nightriae was a guardian to one specific thing or place."
I looked at myself. "So I'm the guardian of the Dark Forest? The last Nightriae?"
Laluzi looked at me strangely. "Yeah. But how did you survive?
I have no idea." I said. "I was only a baby..." I told her everything that had happened to me as of yet.
Huh," Laluzi said. "I don't like this.
I flapped my wings in alarm. "You dislike the fact that my race is not dead?
Laluzi looked surprised. "No, nothing like that!" she said. "But in that time, there were dark spirits too. Nightmares one can only dream of. What if they start returning too?
I didn't know that... I only saw that world for a few seconds. It was just a forest glade, not far from here." I said. "That's not good. If they return..." I couldn't finish my own sentence, unable to say the last few words.
Then they would have free reign over this world if they could kill the last guardian. You." she finished. "But... you're safe here, in the place you protect. It will protect you. All the mindless creatures in here, every tree, enchanted or not, is bound to the life of the forest, and you. They would save you if your life is in jeopardy if you remain here. I have to leave now, farewell." Laluzi said. "And good luck." With that, she disappeared into the trees, leaving me with more knowledge than before. Knowledge that frightened me.
I headed off into the direction the kougra had left in. I soon became lost, tangled in the vines. Yet even as I watched, the vines slowly slithered back and relinquished their grip on me. Laluzi had not been lying... I was the last Nightriae, and the forest was a part of me.
Eventually, I became tired and decided to rest. I curled up inside of a hollow oak tree and went to sleep.
That was when I had the dream.
I was standing in the snowy glade clearing, alone. It was nighttime, and the full moon was shining among the stars. Suddenly, two groups of stars detached themselves from the sky and floated down to me. It was my parents. The two smiled sadly at me, and for the first time, I heard my mother speak. "We have failed you, daughter." she said. "Our race is dead, our legacy gone. But millenia after we died, our daughter still does not have a name. We name you Nightriae, after our race. It is an honor to bear the legacy of the night spirits... bear it well, my daughter, last of the Nightriae. We shall never see you again. Our spirits are weak; we will fade away into the void soon. Even the ghosts of the Nightriae cannot avoid disappearing; we could only hold it at bay to wait while you slept, waiting for you to wake. And you have... So in our final message to you, Nightriae, I want to say... We love you." With that, the two faded away, leaving me alone in the world.
I woke up with my face covered in tears. "It was just a dream..." I panted. I waited for my heart to stop pounding and then I looked around.
It was night, and I was in the clearing. And there were two new constellations in the sky, right next to each other.
It was real...
The tears stopped as soon as they started when I remembered. I had a name now. "Bear it well," she had said. It was the name of my race...
."I will, mother, I will!" I said fiercly. And so I claimed my heritage as a guardian of the night, trapped in a world of day.
More coming soon.